Conventional absorbent articles normally comprise a liquid permeable (pervious) topsheet having a user-facing surface, a liquid impermeable (impervious) backsheet having a garment-facing surface and an absorbent core located intermediate the topsheet and the backsheet.
These elements of absorbent articles like feminine protection articles namely sanitary napkins and/or panty liners, are typically provided in white color, thereby providing a hygienic condition. Upon body fluid discharge like menstruation the absorbent article, typically the absorbent core, absorbs colored body fluid, and changes color to that of the fluid being absorbed. This is distasteful to the user. It is, therefore extremely desirable to provide a clean appearance and a dry surface after the discharge of colored body fluids thereon.
Also each menstrual period is very troublesome for women and almost all the women are in a depressed mood during menstruation. It has been found that there is thus a need for an absorbent article for feminine protection with which a woman may be relieved from a melancholic mood and may experience menstruation without distress or inconvenience.
This problem could be addressed per absorbent articles with a color printed non-woven as the topsheet. Although in the field of absorbent articles for baby protection it is known to color print non-woven (especially the backsheet of diapers), the use of this technology in absorbent articles for feminine protection as a topsheet directly facing the wearer's skin still encounters negatives like color bleeding and/or color rub-off towards the wearer's skin, this especially under wet conditions per discharge of body fluids on the articles.
Furthermore the use of color printing technology on for example body fluid receiving/transmitting elements/layers of absorbent articles should not jeopardize the primary benefits of said elements/layers and hence of the overall body fluid handling properties of the articles per se.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article for feminine protection which provides a pleasant feeling to a woman before she uses it and which is so structured as to be disposed off cleanly while concealing the flow once the article is used.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide improved colored printed elements/layers for use in absorbent articles for feminine protection typically as topsheet (preferably as secondary topsheet) with reduced color bleeding and reduced color rub-off without compromising on the inherent acquisition, diffusion/transmission and absorption properties of such elements/layers.
It has now been found that these objects are solved by providing a color printed liquid permeable laminated structure comprising at least a first layer and a second layer, each layer having a first outer surface and a second outer surface, the two surfaces being opposite each other, the first layer being color printed on at least one of its surfaces (i.e., at least on its first or second surface or both) prior being laminated to the second layer, the second layer being a fibrous web, preferably a dry laid fibrous web, the laminated structure being stabilized by a bonding means preferably a latex binder, and a process for manufacturing such a laminated structure.
Advantageously by color printing the first layer, preferably a non-woven, prior laminating it to fibers to form a fibrous (dry-laid) web and stabilizing the resulting laminated structure per bonding means, preferably latex binder, the laminated structure retains essentially all its acquisition, diffusion and absorption properties towards body fluid deposited thereon. In contrast, color printing as a subsequent step, a laminated structure after having laminated a first layer, e.g., a nonwoven, to a (dry laid) fibrous web and stabilized the resulting structure per bonding means, results in lost of acquisition, diffusion and absorption properties of the laminated structure. Indeed, printing with conventional printing technologies known to those skilled in the art (e.g., flexography) one surface of such a laminated structure (once laminated) results in caliper reduction of the whole laminated structure thickness, thereby increasing the density of the fibrous dry laid web, and hence reducing its body fluid handling properties.
Advantageously stabilizing the color printed laminated structure of the present invention by applying a bonding means preferably a latex binder contributes to reduced color bleeding and reduced color rub-off.
In a broadest aspect the present invention also encompasses an absorbent article for feminine protection comprising a liquid permeable topsheet, an underlying layer directly adjacent to the topsheet and visible through the liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet and an absorbent core positioned between the underlying layer and the backsheet, the underlying layer visible through the topsheet is a color printed liquid permeable laminated structure comprising at least two liquid permeable layers, each layer having a pair of opposed surfaces, at least one of said layers of the laminated structure is color printed on at least the surface directly adjacent another liquid permeable layer of the laminated structure, prior laminating the liquid permeable layers of the laminated structure together. Advantageously such construction results in reduced color bleeding and reduced color rub-off towards the topsheet while not compromising on the body fluid handling properties of the article.